


Happy Birthday.

by Resph



Category: K (Anime)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 15:30:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7898074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Resph/pseuds/Resph
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Belated birthday fic for Mikoto.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Happy Birthday.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much [Lettuce](http://archiveofourown.org/users/misarena/pseuds/misarena) for the help with beta!

The infamous bar was already darkened by the time Fushimi Saruhiko stepped into its view. Despite it being located in a relatively busy part of the city, the area was strangely quiet that evening. A quick survey of the outside had Saruhiko wondering if there was even a single soul within those walls.

 

He glanced down at his hand. A single, old-fashioned bronze key lay in the middle of his palm, already warmed by the touch of his skin. When he informed a certain someone earlier the day that he’d be working overtime; hours later, a letter had arrived for him.

 

“Be there.” it said, and the lonely key had been in its envelope.

 

What was the point of him “being there” if there wasn’t a single person waiting for him, Saruhiko wondered.

 

Still, he stepped up to the front entrance. As expected, the key fit perfectly and its turn was smooth; not much force needed. The bell chimed, much too loud for his liking. Had the bell always been that loud?

 

Scanning the interior, there was no mistake that he was standing in the aftermath of a party. Confetti all over the floor. Disposable plates and cutlery waiting to be cleared up. Gift wrapping and ribbons scattered around the familiar couch at the farthest left side of the bar. In front of the couch was a coffee table covered with object after object stacked not-so-neatly one on top of the other. Saruhiko was sure that if one of them was moved, the entire structure would fall apart. Even in the darkness, he could make out a large amateur-made banner with sloppy characters written across it when he lifted his head.

 

“Happy Birthday–”

 

The latter half of it was hidden where the light from the windows could not reach.

 

After closing and locking the door, and cringing again at the loud chime, he slowly made his way across the room, avoiding whatever trash had been left scattered and the decorations that still hung from the ceiling.

 

The dark and quiet atmosphere of the place contradicted the sorry mess behind him; clearly the remains of a celebration. He moved closer to the staircase. He could imagine how the party went, from start to finish. It must’ve been loud. It must’ve been unbearably enthusiastic. Saruhiko decided that he was rather grateful for the extra work that had been loaded on his shoulders. He wouldn’t have liked being early here. Thank whatever being above that he had a legitimate reason to avoid it. Not that he wouldn’t have made up excuses if that hadn’t been the case - while he could lie with a straight face without a single twinge on his conscience, it was also a pain in the ass to come up with a lie, Saruhiko concluded.

 

Saruhiko spared one last glance at the chaos behind him. He was a little surprised that the owner of the bar would leave such a mess behind.

 

Finally arriving at the second floor, Saruhiko almost fell sideways - the wall he’d wanted to lean onto for support was no longer there. There was no light, and Saruhiko had forgotten the fact that the owner had renovated this place since last he’d been there. Almost all the walls that divided the second floor had been taken down to make one spacious room, presumably to accommodate the ever increasing load of hoodlums in this place. All mysteriously charmed by and mindlessly worshipping that one person, Saruhiko thought, irritated. Mostly at himself. While he did not worship this person, and definitely wasn’t charmed in any way, Saruhiko could no longer deny that this person had somehow secured a place in his heart.

 

_How stupid._

 

At last, passing by a second stairway that led to the third floor that Saruhiko had no business with, he reached the room at the far end; one that he’d visited only a handful of times.

 

It was quiet save for the sound of his own heart beating and the occasional car passing a street or two away from there.

 

Having grown up in an empty mansion, Saruhiko would have thought that he’d be used to quiet places. But perhaps because this bar was usually filled with happy voices, the present silence was difficult to ignore. Finally, he raised a hand to knock - once, and twice, on the door in front of him - and called out a name.

 

No answer.

 

He tried again.

 

Still nothing.

 

Perhaps he wasn’t wrong. Perhaps they did indeed head out for a second party, which would explain the left behind mayhem on the first floor.

 

_Could’ve at least told me._

 

Fishing out his PDA and temporarily blinded by the sharp light of the screen, Saruhiko hissed under his breath and quickly turned down the brightness.

 

Not a single notification.

 

No message. No call. Nothing.

 

Saruhiko clicked his tongue softly.

 

He held up a small paper bag that he had been holding in his other hand. It had a simple design of violet, a shiny surface and a brand name printed on in golden lettering.

 

Since he was there, he might as well leave it inside the room, he thought. The idea of leaving it on the coffee table downstairs for everyone else to see the day after did not appeal to him.

 

Turning the knob, he took a not so gentle step into the room. The soft light from the window helped him locate the nightstand almost immediately. But something made him freeze on spot and Saruhiko did not enjoy the momentary spasm in his chest. He swallowed, as if that could help ease his heart back to its original position after the shock.

 

Next to the nightstand was a bed. And on top of the bed was a recognizable body lying sideways - facing the wall. The slow rise and fall of its back and the soft sound of breathing eased Saruhiko back to calm; he sighed.

 

_He’s here after all._

 

He walked over to the bedside, this time gentler with his steps. Out of mild curiosity, he peeked over in an attempt to see the man’s sleeping face. It was much too dark to see it clearly - still, Saruhiko’s gaze softened.

 

_So defenceless._

 

Quite a rare sight. Saruhiko had heard how this man burnt half of the room when some new member - Soult, was it? - attempted to make a move on him while he’d been napping.

 

_Half of the room was probably an understatement._

 

This person here never, or hardly ever, let his guard down. As someone who sat on the throne at the very top of the underworld, he surely must’ve gathered not only admirers but also those who disagree with him; with his power. Saruhiko recalled the times when he would wake up next to him - he’d always been already awake or at least partially so. Perhaps that explained why this person always seemed to be napping or waking up late in the afternoon; Because he never fully sleeps. Realizing this, Saruhiko’s frequent all-nighters seemed trivial all of a sudden. This person was the one who tried his hardest, silently, never once saying a word in complaint because complaining was pointless when there was no escape.

 

Therefore, seeing this person sleeping so peacefully, posture soft, was one of the rarest sights on Earth.

 

Fully intending to simply leave the paper bag on the nightstand, Saruhiko noticed the digital clock standing on top of it all of a sudden.

 

23:53PM.

 

He paused.

 

_It’s not over yet._

 

However, this person was sleeping, peacefully for once. God only knows when the last time he’d been granted such a deep sleep was.

 

23:55PM.

 

But he did manage to finish his work and get here before the day is gone.

 

23:56PM.

 

The letter said ‘Be there’.

 

23:57PM.

 

Saruhiko clicked his tongue.

 

_Fuck it._

 

He raised his free hand and shook the sleeping man none too gently awake by the shoulder.

 

“Mikoto-san. Mikoto-san, wake up.”

 

Suoh Mikoto grunted and Saruhiko immediately swore at himself. He was really doing it, waking him and robbing him of such a rare opportunity to get a good night’s sleep. At the same time, Saruhiko wondered, for a second, if this room would survive - if _he_ would survive the blast that may be coming his way.

 

Temporarily paralyzed by fear, Saruhiko was called back to Earth by a soft sigh and a deep voice.

 

“You’re late.”

 

Relieved, Saruhiko moved back, as Mikoto turned around to sit up.

 

“My apologies for waking you, I just…”

 

23:59PM.

 

“Happy birthday, Mikoto-san,“ he said; and shoved the paper bag into Mikoto’s chest, which said man blinked at. He, too, turned his face to the digital clock; in time to witness the numbers on it change to 00:00AM.

 

_Did he just smile?_

 

“That’s all. You can go back to sleep now. I’ll lock the door on my way out.” Saruhiko said, hastily; realising that he had been staring. As he turned to leave, he could vaguely hear that familiar voice telling him to wait when he stepped on something tiny on the floor. At the same time, a hand grasped his arm. Saruhiko lost his balance and fell backward.

 

He did not hit the floor. His arm was pulled and the next thing he knew, the lower half of his body was hanging off the bed while his back was against Mikoto’s chest. Another arm encircled his abdomen to prevent him from slipping off. His shoulder hurt from the sudden pull, frankly, but Saruhiko kept it to himself.

 

“Hey.”

 

He jumped; the all too familiar deep voice too close to his ear.

 

“How about you stay?”

 

He blinked. Silence filled the room.

 

“The others-”

 

“They won’t return.”

 

“Anna-”

 

“She’s with Kusanagi.”

 

Silence, again.

 

To be honest, Saruhiko hadn’t planned what he would do that night. It didn’t even cross his mind how he was supposed to return to the Scepter 4 dorm, at what time. But that didn’t mean he’d anticipated something, right?

 

In the midst of that silence, Saruhiko let his practical mind work the situation out. It was late. He could not call for a pickup from headquarters. He hated cabs. He didn’t dislike walking but it was far and he was much too tired from work. Anna was not there, nor would any of those annoying members return that night.

 

After weighing things out like that, staying the night didn’t seem all that bad of an idea. The Captain happened to have given him a day off the next day, too. Everything seemed to work out perfectly - it was almost suspicious. But what was done was done - no point dwelling on it - and so he nodded.

 

His gift was placed on the nightstand, unopened. As Saruhiko returned to the bed, changed out of his uniform and wearing only boxers and an oversized t-shirt, he and Mikoto noticed for the first time that night the blanket that draped itself over Mikoto’s lower half.

 

They both knew well that Mikoto never used blankets. He didn’t need one. They both stared at it and came to the same conclusion; Anna.

 

The day had started with HOMRA celebrating Mikoto’s birthday. Apparently, everyone had chipped in with ideas about what to do, what silly games to play; and the day had become so packed, HOMRA’s members insisting that they’d go through everything on the list. Unwrapping gifts had been the last item, and it was Totsuka’s idea that part of his gift would be finishing the evening early. The second part was to have everyone except Kusanagi and Anna patrolling overnight, without explaining the reason behind it. In the end, Mikoto had been easily convinced to call it a day earlier than expected; and had returned to his room. Anna must’ve come in and placed the blanket on Mikoto before she left with Kusanagi.

 

Saruhiko vaguely recalled, from when he fell earlier, that he’d stepped on a tiny object that felt rather round under his boot. And he remembered the faint sound of said object rolling off after he’d landed on Mikoto.

 

_So that explained the marble, and the sad state downstairs._

 

He finally joined Mikoto in bed and lay down sideways, face to Mikoto’s chest. His head leaned forward to fit perfectly at the dip of Mikoto’s collarbone. Having his forehead against something soft was soothing to Saruhiko, something he hadn’t known until he and Mikoto had started sharing the same sleeping space.

 

In Saruhiko’s bed back in his dorm-room, a fairly new addition had been made to his bunk bed. A brand new pillow which he didn’t use to sleep on, nor to hug with. He simply placed it on a side - depending on how he slept that night - and placed his forehead against it. That was all.

 

Not wanting to shun Anna’s kindness, Mikoto reached to pull the blanket over the both of them and left his arm cradling Saruhiko. Saruhiko let him, and as the both of them slowly drifted off to sleep, Saruhiko had only one question left; and he called Mikoto’s name for it.

 

“What?”

 

“How come you sent me the key early this evening and asked me to come over? When you didn’t know you’d be turning in early because of Totsuka-san?”

 

“I didn’t send anything.” Mikoto answered sleepily, and drifted off.

 

“…Eh?”


End file.
